Heat activated transfers and appliques are used to apply a variety of different indicia onto a variety of different substrates. The particular indicia can be a company logo, a person's name, lettering or numerals on sports jerseys and the like, as well as purely ornamental designs such as licensed characters.
Particularly when applying these to a cloth substrate, there are a number of critical criteria for a heat activated applique. One criteria is the ease and accuracy of creating designs, particularly intricate designs. A second critical criteria is the appropriate location of the applique onto the substrate, i.e., a shirt, hat or the like. This is particularly a concern when there are a series of letters, numerals or other symbols which are separate and discrete which must be applied at a relatively precise location.
There are a number of methods used to arrange a series of indicia and locate these on a substrate. With large numerals and letters such as names and jersey numbers, these can be physically placed onto the back of a shirt, for example, using a template or other guide. This is a relatively good method for very large indicia.
With smaller indicia, screen printing is possible. This has several inherent limitations and in many situations is undesirable. Screen printing is particularly unsuitable for making a single applique.